Champions League quarter-finals: Second legs set to decide final four
The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals return this week with four clubs — Real Madrid, Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, and Aston Villa — aiming to overturn first-leg defeats in a bid to reach the semi-finals.
With high-stakes matchups set for Tuesday, April 15, and Wednesday, April 16, fans can expect intense action as Europe's elite battle for a place in the final four. Real Madrid and Bayern, both tournament heavyweights, will be especially focused on staging comebacks after falling behind in the opening legs.
News.Az, citing UEFA.com, previews all the action ahead of the quarter-final deciders on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 April.
Tuesday 15 April
Aston Villa vs Paris
First leg: 1-3
Aston Villa made a promising start in the French capital, Morgan Rogers converting Youri Tielemans' low cross in the 35th minute, but a show of stunning Paris quality left them on the losing side of the first UEFA competition meeting between these teams. "They've put the world on notice," said Rogers after his opener was cancelled out by sizzling Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia strikes and a late Nuno Mendes finish.
Though effusive in his praise of the talent in the Paris ranks, the 22-year-old forward has no doubts about Villa's own, keeping his comeback hopes firmly alive: "We've got enough quality to cause any team in the world problems. We've got nothing to lose, so why not go for it?"
Victory at the Parc des Princes tasted sweet for Luis Enrique's men, who travel to Villa Park with the comfort of a two-goal advantage thanks to Nuno Mendes' added-time finish. "The goal in the last minute was the cherry on top of the cake," beamed Enrique, whose side have made a habit of storming comeback wins.
"It's happened to us on numerous occasions," the Paris coach said of falling behind. "I think the result reflects our commitment and engagement." With Villa eyeing up one of those dramatic turnarounds for themselves, those qualities will be needed on Tuesday too.
Paris have scored three or more goals in six of their last eight Champions League matches.
Borussia Dortmund vs Barcelona
First leg: 0-4
Dortmund succumbed to a masterful attacking display in Barcelona, a pair of goals from their former star Robert Lewandowski, in between Raphinha and Lamine Yamal finishes, leaving them 4-0 down ahead of the home leg.
Outmanoeuvred by Hansi Flick, his assistant coach at Bayern in 2019, Niko Kovač is hoping to rebuild his team's confidence ahead of the second leg. "I saw some good things out there and now it's my job to communicate them to my players," the Dortmund coach said. Winless in their six European encounters with Barcelona, Dortmund would need quite the first victory to turn this tie around.
The first leg provided plenty of evidence to confirm that this is one fearsome Barcelona attack, whether in the form of downcast defenders and bulging nets, or in the eye-catching statistics. Champions League top scorer Raphinha poked in his 12th of the season, Lewandowski scored his 105th goal in his 131st appearance in the competition and Lamine Yamal, 17, became the second youngest scorer in quarter-final history.
Though pleased with his attackers, it is the overall strength of his side that Barça boss Flick is pointing to ahead of a second leg which he insists is no formality. "Football is madness," the German coach explained. "We need to travel over there and commit as few errors as possible."
The 4-0 win equalled Barcelona's largest victory in a UEFA competition quarter-final. The Catalan club had won by that margin on six occasions previously, including four times with the same scoreline.
Wednesday 16 April
Real Madrid vs Arsenal
First leg: 0-3
Real Madrid are perhaps the furthest thing from strangers to a dramatic turnaround, but even they have no precedent for overturning a three-goal first-leg deficit in the Champions League era.
Jude Bellingham gave a frank assessment of the performance at full time, having watched international team-mate Declan Rice curl in two magnificent free-kicks before Mikel Merino's expert finish. "We're lucky to get away with three," the midfielder admitted, while sounding the drum ahead of the second leg. "We're going to need something unbelievably special, something crazy – but if there's one place where crazy things can happen, it's our house."
Mikel Arteta is also unwilling to discount the power of the Bernabéu atmosphere ahead of the decisive second leg. "We're going to enjoy the win, because we feel we deserve to do that, but we know it's just half-time," the Arsenal coach conceded. "We have to be even better in Madrid to go through."
Doing just that could have the Gunners dreaming big – when they last overcame Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout phase back in 2005/06, they went on to reach that year's final.
Real Madrid have emerged victorious in their previous seven Champions League quarter-final ties against English opposition.
Inter vs Bayern München
First leg: 2-1
Two welcome statistical streaks continued for Inter as they claimed an important win at Vincent Kompany's Bayern. First, thanks to Lautaro Martínez's trivela finish, they opened the scoring for the ninth time in their last ten Champions League matches. Then, courtesy of Davide Frattesi's 88th-minute winner, they claimed their ninth win in that same span.
Now Inter's all-time top scorer in the European Cup/Champions League, Martínez wants a repeat of the gutsy away performance on their return to San Siro. "Our performance and attitude must be the same in the second leg," the forward said. "We took the ball off them in the first half and saw how much they suffered, so we need quality as well as determination."
Bayern were left feeling that fine margins decided the result on their home turf, so travel to Milan with a point to prove. "Games like this are decided by details; we saw tonight just how quickly things can change," said Konrad Laimer, who provided the assist as Thomas Müller levelled the scores in the 85th minute. The goalscorer himself added: "I've never been overly concerned after a first-leg match. It's definitely achievable and we remain confident."
The defeat was Bayern's first home Champions League loss since April 2021, when they were defeated 3-2 by Paris in another quarter-final first leg.
Similar news
